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Clean Energy Generated 80,000 American Green Jobs in 2013: E2 Report

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – The second annual ‘Clean Energy Works for Us’ report from Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) says that nearly 80,000 green jobs were added to the American economy in 2013 due to clean energy. Virtually every American state benefitted from these new jobs, even as challenges to green economic growth persist, due to market and policy uncertainties.

About 78,600 new green jobs were announced at 260 locations across the country in 2013. Solar energy took the lead by contributing to more than 21,600 of the new jobs, up from 14,000 in 2012. Solar was followed by energy efficiency with 12,500 jobs, up from 9,100 in 2012.

America’s clean energy economy continues to be led by solar energy. The country saw installation of 4,751 MW of new solar PV capacity, which is good for about 29 percent of all new U.S. electrical capacity. 90 percent of states increased their number of solar-related jobs, which improved overall employment rate by 20 percent to reach a total of about 143,000 workers.

Wind energy economy suffered due to uncertainty over the Production Tax Credit (PTC). This resulted in a contribution of only 8,500 jobs compared to 12,600 in 2012. Wind industry in the U.S. represents an aggregate of 80,700 jobs, which shows how much is at stake with a potential extension of the PTC. Public transportation also suffered a major decline in new jobs, with only 11,500 job announcements compared to 43,119 in 2012.

As expected, California topped among all states in overall new green job creation in 2013. The state has continued to remain the epicenter of the country’s clean tech market. It is home to some of the most ambitious renewable energy and emission reduction projects. A total of 42 projects represented about 15,400 new jobs, which was more than twice the second-ranked state.

Texas was placed second in green job creation in 2013, with about 6,300 jobs across 12 projects. The job market in Texas was spurred by 3,300 jobs during the fourth quarter, and about half the jobs were in the wind industry. Hawaii came in a close third with 5,700 jobs, boosted by a strong growth among rooftop solar installations and energy efficiency investments.

Vikas is a staff writer for the Sustainable Development news and editorial section on Justmeans. He is an MBA with 20 years of managerial and entrepreneurial experience and global travel. He is the author of "The Power of Money" (Scholars, 2003), a book that presents a revolutionary monetary economic theory on poverty alleviation in the developing world. Vikas is also the official writer for an international social project for developing nations "Decisions for Life" run in collaboration between the ILO, the University of Amsterdam and the Indian Institute of Management.